Senior Clinical Psychologist

Our Vision is to provide the best mental health, learning disability, autism and community based services for the populations we serve.

As an integrated mental health, learning disability and community Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including:

• Primary and secondary mental health care for children and adults including specialist inpatient child and adolescent mental health provision, perinatal mental health, forensic services including low and medium secure care.
• Specialist community support for children and adults with learning disabilities and autism, including intensive support.
• Community physical health and well-being services for children and adults.

The Trust was first established in 2002 and employs approximately 7,000 staff who provide care from more than 400 sites. The organisation offers opportunities for medics, mental health and general nurses, allied health professionals, psychology, administration and clerical staff, apprentices and volunteers.

Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust supports flexible working, we believe that a positive work/life balance benefits NHS employees through improved health and wellbeing. We would consider working patterns such as; term time, part time, compressed hours, home/remote working, and flexi-time.

For more information visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT.

Job overview

The post will based with the East EIS team (The Mount, Accrington), although there will be an expectation that people may need to offer a service across the whole of Lancashire dependant on service demand.

We are looking for an enthusiastic, highly motivated and committed individual to join a well-established Early Intervention Service. The Lancashire Early Intervention Service (EIS) specialises in working with individuals aged 14 and upwards who are at risk of, or currently experiencing a first episode of psychosis.

Our team provides a range of specialist psychological services including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Family Interventions. So the applicant would require some competencies and confidence in either or both of these models. There are four multi-disciplinary early intervention service teams covering the Lancashire and South Cumbria footprint in which the therapists are integrated, offering input into the multi-disciplinary teams.

The East Early Intervention Service is based within East Lancashire and is hosted by The Bay locality within Lancashire and South Cumbria Foundation Trust.

Minimum professional qualifications:

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology.

Please note this post is subject to Enhanced DBS. This post is also subject to the nationally agreed Agenda for Change terms and conditions.

• The post holder will support the provision and delivery of high quality clinical psychology services within their specific geographical area and work closely with senior psychological colleagues to achieve this. The post holder will provide psychological advice, consultation, training and supervision to non-psychological colleagues in addition to the direct provision of psychological advice and where appropriate clinical support for pilot projects and clinical developments across the business unit. The post holder will liaise closely with the Consultant Clinical Psychologist and other key senior staff within the business unit to support the implementation of agreed system changes and service developments within the network.

Working for our organisation

Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust provides a range of services including secondary mental health care across this area. Specialist provision comprises inpatient child and adolescent mental health services, perinatal mental health and forensic services including low and medium secure care.

The Trust also provides a range of physical health and well-being services in the community alongside a range of partners in the Lancashire, Cumbria and Sefton area.

We encourage applicants to state clearly on their application forms this request and discuss these options at interview.

For more information please visit our website via Lancashire & South Cumbria NHS FT

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see attached the job description and person specification for more information about this role.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Post-graduate doctoral level training (or equivalent) in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS.

• Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology.
• Formal training in the use and interpretation of neuropsychological assessments.
• Formal training in assessment tools for the assessment of children and young people with suspected ASD.

Knowledge

• Doctoral level knowledge of clinical psychology including highly developed specialist knowledge of lifespan developmental psychology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, particularly the literature pertaining to two or more distinct psychological therapies for use with children, young people and their families/carers.
• Skills in the use of highly complex methods of psychological assessment intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration.
• A high level of ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, highly technical, and clinically sensitive information to children and young people, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS.
• Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups.
• Doctoral level knowledge of research design and methodology, including complex multivariate data analysis as practiced within the field of clinical psychology.
• Knowledge of child protection and other key legislation and its implications for both clinical practice and supervision regarding work with children, young people and their families/carers.

Experience

• Assessed experience of working as a qualified clinical psychologist for a minimum of 2 years at a specialist level.
• Experience of working with children, young people and their families including extended family, presenting with the full range of clinical severity across the full range of care settings including community, in-patient and residential.
• Experience of working systemically with family and carer groups and establishing the most effective methods of working with children, young people and their carers.
• Experience of exercising full clinical responsibility for clients’ psychological care and treatment, both as a professionally qualified autonomous practitioner and also within the context of a multidisciplinary treatment plan.
• Experience of teaching, training and/or professional and clinical supervision.

Skills

• Ability to sit in constrained positions when working with clients.
• Ability to sustain intense levels of concentration, responding and participating as required.
• Ability to self-reflect and use clinical supervision appropriately.
• Ability to cope with unpleasant working environments or conditions.
• Ability to cope in, and deal with highly distressing emotional circumstances.

Work Related Circumstances

• Working to professional guidelines.
• Ability to identify provide and promote appropriate means of support to carers and staff exposed to highly distressing situations and severely challenging behaviours.
• Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-meAbility to identify, and employ, as appropriate, clinical governance mechanisms for the support and maintenance of clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour. dia materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to develop and use complex multi-media materials for presentations in public, professional and academic settings.
• Ability to articulate and interpret clearly the role of the profession of clinical psychology based upon a good understanding of the framework of government and national professional policy.
• Willingness to undergo an enhanced CRB check.
• Ability to drive or access suitable transport in order to work from different bases within the working week.

Personal

• Ability to sit in constrained positions when working with clients.
• Ability to sustain intense levels of concentration, responding and participating as required.
• Ability to self-reflect and use clinical supervision appropriately.
• Ability to cope with unpleasant working environments or conditions.
• Ability to cope in, and deal with highly distressing emotional circumstances.

Please note that further communication from Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCft) will normally be to the email address given on the application form. You should also ensure that email addresses and telephone numbers are provided for your referees, to enable LSCft to contact them.

Personalisation is essential when submitting an application form to convey your skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively.

Please ensure that you read the person specification attached below as your application will be measured against this document. Applications from job share partners are welcome and other forms of flexible working will be considered for all posts.

For all posts which require a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check please be aware of the Disclosure and Barring Service Code of Practice, a copy of which is available by logging on to the DBS website. If the post is subject to DBS disclosure, a charge will be made to the successful candidate(s).

You are advised to consider applying for LSCft vacancies as soon as possible as in some instances vacancies are closed as soon as a sufficient number of applications have been received. If you are not invited to interview within three weeks of the closing date then please assume that on this occasion you have been unsuccessful, as it is not possible to contact all unsuccessful candidates.

LSCft is committed to celebrating difference as an asset and we know that recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds helps to create a more flexible, creative and effective workforce. We actively challenge discrimination and welcome applications from people regardless of age, disability (particularly those with experience of accessing or caring for someone who has accessed mental health or learning disability services), ethnicity, gender, religion or belief or sexual orientation.

Our goal is for the Trust to be truly representative of the communities we serve so we are particularly keen to receive applications from people in under-represented groups. If there is anything you’d like to discuss in relation to your application then please ask.